


Fealty of the Heart

by t_shirt



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Angst, light lemon, sap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:47:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23242756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t_shirt/pseuds/t_shirt
Summary: While traveling abroad a regent of the realm of Yon discovers a tender heart that shakes his faithful loyalty to the crown.
Relationships: 1x2 - Relationship, 3x4, 5xO.o
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Fealty of the Heart

AU/Monarchy Romantic/Adventure  
1x2, 3x4, 5xO.o, Rx1 (unrequited)  
Lemon, Fluff, Sap, Mild Angst  
Beta’ed by Mechante Fille

Summary: While traveling abroad a regent of the realm of Yon discovers a tender heart that shakes his faithful loyalty to the crown. 

It is a beautiful country. No matter how many times I ride this land it never fails to amaze me. From the high peaks of the Tucoan Mountains to the shores of the Residian Sea there is not one league of earth I would not be proud to call my home, and yet, it is not the land of my birth. I recalled the first time I set foot on the path I traveled as nothing but a boy determined to find a way. My earliest memories are of the sea where I spent a good deal of my youth as a cabin boy, though my heart longed for somewhere to call my own, so I walked away from everything I knew one bright fall morning and never looked back. A daring feat for a ten year old perhaps, but I felt no loyalty to my mates and harbored no respect for the sea, so my feet led me here. 

The smile that often appears under my nose whenever the fair image of my prince reflects in my mind’s eye crept along my lips when I remembered the first time I saw him. His nobility was as plain to see as the sun in the noon sky while he tended a yellow rose along the boarders of his castle walls. However, I felt neither fear for his station nor reverence for his lineage. Perhaps it was my own arrogance that saved me that day and I laughed out loud at the image of Rashid preparing to reprimand me for refusing to bow. He was a giant to me at the time and fell as all giants do, with a resounding thud that left our young prince howling with laugher. Come to think of it, he still towered over me, as was the case with most humans he met, but he never underestimated me again. 

I was hired as a squire in the royal army on the spot, which progressed into a full commission as fast as my friendship with Quatre was born. By the time I reached an age of accountability in my thirteenth year I had earned a position of leadership among my peers and a place at my prince’s side forevermore. I had finally come home. 

However, as with all things, nothing good comes easy. As Quatre gathered the years he began to loose the carefree expression of youth. Not only did his duties seem to compound daily, but he grew four inches one summer and suddenly found himself the target of every available young maiden that fancied a shot at the crown. Of course, it didn’t help that he had also thinned making his arms and legs seem impossibly long though he retained the innocent expression in those big, ocean green eyes. It struck me one day while he tended that little, yellow rose along the wall that he had grown far lovelier than the bloom he so lovingly preened. It made me wonder if there was truly anyone out there who would be suited to his side. Perhaps a wayward sun goddess would do? 

However, our problems ran deeper than the mere courting of a prince. Over the past two years skirmishes along the boarders of our lands had picked up leaving far too many of our people homeless or dead. This was the reason for my journey to the island country of Gobanme and why I felt the need to shift in the saddle and favor the puncture wound in my left thigh. The arrow hadn’t gone deep, but it is terribly uncomfortable to be jostled around on horseback with a hole in your leg. 

I owed the injury to the second of a string of attacks that had come my way since my departure from Lord Chang’s realm. With the current lack of a treaty between Gobanme and Prince Quatre’s kingdom of Yon, the presence of Gobanmian citizens along the boarder near the sea brought discontent and mistrust from the land owners who were forced to share their territory resulting in an uprising of petty disputes. The situation had escalated to the point that talk of war between our nations ran rampant resulting in Prince Quatre’s entreaty to myself to visit the Chang Dynasty and offer our hand in friendship. Happily, Wufei, the newest leader of the Gobanmian government, was most pleased by the offer and seemed eager to settle into an agreement. Unfortunately, many of the radicals that had forced their way into the outer boarders of Yon were unsettled by the possibility of having to pay for what they had taken and made their discontent known by lashing out at the only target available at the time. 

Me. 

“Hoa, boy,” I soothed my agitated mount patting the sleek, white muscles of his neck. 

It was good to be with him again. Three months in the fields of Corsica had done little to dampen his spirit and though I, too, would very much have enjoyed a vigorous ride over the gentle plains my leg insisted we keep it to a moderate walk. He snorted and stepped sideways on the dusty road with his green black eyes fixed on the horizon, but I was forced to restrain him. 

“Sorry, my heart,” I chuckled patting him again, but he tossed his head and snorted disdainfully. 

He was angry with me, but I couldn’t blame him. He was as wild as the wind and just as impossible to tame. His tolerance of me was due only to the fact that I once saved his life. Though it is not an uncommon practice to put down a steed as troublesome as Wing when they prove to be unbreakable, I could not stand by and watch such a creature die a worthless death. I haven’t been able to get rid of him since. 

“Settle down,” I groused, feeling the heat in my thigh as it tensed when he stepped high again and stamped the ground. 

It was in me to grow impatient with him, but something in the way he flicked his ear caught my attention and set my senses on fire. His manor had changed ringing every alarm in my head and I forgot the leg and sat up tall to scan the tree line. Another attack? I had not expected anything to happen so far into Yon’s territory and was caught completely off guard when an arrow hissed through the air not six inches from my head. 

“HA!” Wing lurched forward in perfect synchronization with my command and his hooves thundered beneath us while more shafts fell to ground in our wake. 

If we could only make the trees we stood a good chance of outrunning whoever held the bows as there was no other in the equestrian race that could match Wing’s raw power. Once safe we could circle back around and find out just who would be fool enough to attack us on our own turf. However, it was not meant to be. Whoever they were, they knew enough about me and the surrounding area to have guessed what my plan would be and I cursed the ancestors of the jackals even as my back hit the ground. Taken by a simple trip line. I was going to kill whoever came up with the plan if I didn’t die of embarrassment first. 

“Stay down if you value your life.”

The accent was southern, perhaps Sonarian, but certainly not Gobanmian. Lord Chang’s people were remarkably easy to identify because of their exotic features. These men looked to be no more than hoodlums, perhaps bandits of the forest. Still, they had to be working for the Gobanmian forces that opposed the treaty. 

“Kill me if you will,” I told them gaining my feet despite the several bow’s and swords pointed my way. “My life is insignificant. The treaty will come to pass either way.”

“Now, who say’s we care a rat’s ass about your treaty?” one of them chortled brandishing a sword in my face and I had a vision of myself taking it from the great buffoon before I ran him through. “But here now,” he grinned showing a good view of his decaying teeth I could have lived without, “Maybe if you was to sweeten the pot, make us a better offer than them slant eyed islanders, we might find it in our hearts to let you live.”

Mercenaries. Great. 

“I would offer you your lives, but they seem to be of little value to you,” I replied. 

“You just earned yourself a slow, painful death there, laddie,” he grinned, but I had had enough of his mindless chatter and attacked him killing three of his men before someone finally got inside my defenses and nearly cracked my skull bringing me to my knees. 

I was sorry I couldn’t say goodbye to Quatre and perhaps tell him not to be sad, that this wasn’t his fault, but the time had finally come for me to face my fate. No one was more surprised than me when the sound of clashing steel echoed amongst the trees and it was I who remained alive. Well, save for the man that had attempted to kill me, but he was pinned to a tree trunk staring into the emerald eyes of the youngest of his men. 

“W…why?” he hissed while the shock of both sudden death and betrayal glistened in his eyes. “I took you in…you were like…my own son.”

“I have need of him.”

It was the only explanation the dying man would hear as his life faded from his eyes and I wondered what the green eyed stranger wanted with me. Whatever it was appeared to be my saving grace as the rest of the troop shied away and disappeared into the brush leaving me to face my new enemy one on one. I have to admit I was a great deal more comfortable dealing with the dozen men than this coolly collected individual. He had the look of an animal about him, the intelligent expression of one that was about to pounce on its prey. 

“What do you need of me?” I asked curious as to how he could so easily kill someone that had regarded him as his son. 

“I have saved your life,” he pointed out. 

“Granted.” The danger here was that this fact gave him a good deal of leverage where I was concerned. 

“I desire a commission in Prince Quatre’s employ.”

Hn. So he wanted to play soldier. He was young, no older than myself, but I could easily tell he was experienced far beyond his years. There was no doubt he was qualified. However, my gaze fell on the dead man lying near his feet while I contemplated the possibility of a likely betrayal against Prince Quatre or myself. 

“He was a worthless man,” he informed me. “Evil through the core. No one will weep for his loss.”

“Why did you serve him?”

“I serve no man,” he countered quickly.

“Yet you have offered your service to Yon?” Did he think I was dense?

“I offer my alliance to Prince Quatre,” he explained. 

“For what purpose?” There had to be a catch.

“I follow my heart,” he replied in a tone that made it quite clear that was all I was going to get out of him. 

There was nothing more I needed to hear. 

“Have you a horse?”

My new companion was a good deal less disturbing once he had explained himself more thoroughly. Captain Cross, who lay dead by Trowa’s hand back in the glen, had allowed him to join their band of mercenary soldiers about a year prior to our meeting. Trowa’s skills had proven invaluable to them, though from the way his brow creased whenever he spoke of his surrogate family I got the feeling he harbored more than a mild dislike for the lot of them. His goal from the beginning had been the same as promises that soon the band would travel to Yon to collect on whatever service they could offer to either side encouraged him to follow until the day came that he could finally gain that which he truly desired. 

“Why didn’t you just come and offer your services outright?” It seemed the simpler path. 

“It is your life debt to me that will bring me to Quatre’s side.”

He appeared to feel a great deal of unfounded loyalty toward my prince. 

“I don’t understand why you want to serve a man you’ve never even met so badly you would endure all of that for his sake.”

“We met once.” Do tell. Hn. “During the Sonarian Tea Festival when he came to visit for the summer.”

That only happened every seven years. 

“That was five years ago.” Quatre would have been eleven, just a boy. I remembered the summer well as it was the first time we had been separated for any length of time. 

“Has he become someone else?” he asked and I chuckled at the smirk in his tone. 

“No,” I replied shifting in my saddle to adjust for the odd heat of the season. “He is forever Quatre.” Why was it so dark? Had the time slipped away so quickly?

“Then he is all I need,” he replied and I had just enough time to wonder about the comment before the world spun heavily and I felt my shoulder impact the earth. 

My head hurt. It had since that man cracked my skull, but I’d had no indication at the time that the injury was severe enough to rob me of my senses. I recalled images for a time, voices and Trowa snarling at Wing. He must have gotten him to cooperate though, because when my eyes finally obeyed my insistent command to focus I was looking up at the scrubbed ceiling of a peasant’s bedroom. 

The room was fairly clean for a house so poor and the bed scented with fresh hay and the musky flavor of heavy skins. My head still hurt, but it was a dull, throbbing pain somewhere in the distance and I recognized the aroma of medicinal tea in the air. 

“Good morning, My Lord.”

Who? I couldn’t see as the midmorning sun bled through the shutters setting every tiny speck of dust in the air aglow, but I liked the voice. It was smooth and gentle and made me feel safely content. 

“I was beginning to worry you might never open your eyes.”

Had I fallen from Earth after all? I could only imagine that this must be what angels look like when he stepped into the soft light. I was aware of the cool rag in his hand while he came close and dabbed my face, but my mind was quickly assessing the possibility that perhaps I hadn’t survived after all. 

“Don’t close them,” he smiled preempting my return to slumber.

“Where am I?” My voice was dry and cracked from lack of use. How long had I been laying there?

“Maxwell Church,” he informed me leaning over to check a bandage on my head I had been unaware of, but the heady scent of his hair while a thick rope of a braid dangled in my face distracted me rather quickly. “You’ve been asleep for three days.” 

Damn. I was already a week late before this happened. Quatre would worry. 

“We’ve sent word to Yon to inform the prince of your delay,” he told me and I wondered if maybe angels could sense a man’s thoughts. “Don’t close them,” he said again and I felt inexorably compelled to grant his request. “You have such beautiful eyes, don’t hide them,” he smiled laying a hand on my cheek while he gazed down at me and I wondered if the heavenly host could not see their reflections because his were the most spellbinding shade of deep violet I had ever seen. 

The universe seemed to decide in that moment to implode as if being sucked into the black pupils of his eyes and I felt an enormous desire to fall right in along with it, but heaven would have to wait. I still had a job to do. 

“Your name?”

“Duo.”

“I am…”

“Hiiro Yui, leader of Yon’s armed forces and Prince Quatre’s most trusted companion.” Well, he was one up on me, that’s for sure. “Your reputation precedes you,” he chuckled moving away and for some reason I suddenly felt cold. 

“Maxwell Church?” Why hadn’t I heard of it? All churches were supported by the monarchy. 

“It’s just me, Father Maxwell and Sister Helen,” he explained as my hand reached out for him when he passed and I was pleased when he noticed and altered his course, coming back to my side.

“Only three of you?” Gods in heaven, he was so warm. 

“We don’t get much of a congregation way out here,” he laughed and I swear I heard birds take flight. 

“Duo?” 

“Yes?” he replied softly falling back into my personal space until I realized it was because I was pulling him closer and stopped. “Does your head hurt?”

I shook it and felt a little dizzy, but the pain was still somewhere along the fridges. 

“Would you like some more tea?” he asked and once again I saw him moving closer where the heat of his breath washed through me until I felt as if my skin might catch fire. 

“No.” Damn it! What in the hell was wrong with me?!

“Perhaps there is some…other need I might fulfill?” he smiled and I gasped and latched onto his wrist when his fingers touched the bare skin of my stomach and sent an electric shock through my flesh. “Relax,” he soothed, but come on! No way in hell! I did let go of his hand though, because the feeling his touch afforded me was something I simply could not deny. “You are so beautiful,” he sighed and I felt the weight of his gaze as he exposed me to the air, the heat of his palm, the gentle strength in his fingers while he woke things inside me no one had ever dared approach before. 

“Duo.” 

His name felt so natural on my lips I gasped it again when his mouth softly touched the skin of my chest and my hand automatically laced into his hair finding it soft and thick to the touch while my breath was stolen away and my body began to take full control of the situation. I know I encouraged him, I wanted nothing more than to feel the heat of his mouth around me. So incumbent was this desire that I refused to allow my mind to alert me to the fact that he was male and arched back into the bed when he complied with my wishes. It was not uncommon for maidens to offer themselves to passing royalty or regents of the realm, so I grasped to that knowledge, lifted my hips and prayed the gods would forgive me for my weakness as he drew from me a blinding culmination that left me shaking like a leaf, gasping for breath and on the verge of unconsciousness. 

“I’m sorry,” he hissed through the liquid haze surrounding my mind. I had never felt anything so wonderful in all my days. What in the hell was he apologizing for?! “You weren’t strong enough for that.” Well, perhaps he had a point. I was feeling very much like I was going to pass out. “Rest.” Mmmmm yes…that sounded like a very good idea. 

When next I opened my eyes it was to find a young woman in my room who wore the traditional clothing of a nun. She was kind, but unremarkable in her efforts to clean, feed and see to my needs and spoke not a word about a beautiful, young angel that might visit the ailing traveler in her church. By the time she left I was convinced it must have all been a very explicit, hopelessly erotic, utterly fantastic dream. 

The memory of soft lips and the heat of his throat flooded my body with need once again when she departed, but I had no sooner closed my eyes in an attempt to see his face when a heavy bag jingled as it was dropped on the foot of my bed. 

“What’s this?” I asked feeling unreasonably irritated by Trowa’s distraction. 

“I felt Cross’s men owed you some form of reimbursement for your injury,” he grinned plopping down in the wooden chair by my bed. 

“You tracked them?” The bag was heavy, if it were filled with gold a man could easily live well off of it for some time. 

“Not exactly a difficult task,” he chuckled. 

“And what would you have in return?” I inquired wondering what this little good deed would cost as well as how many of Cross’s men were still alive. 

“Just doing my job.” I froze for a moment to assess the statement before cocking a brow and noting the long grin that spread over his lips. “But if you were to feel inclined to heal in a timely fashion so that we might continue our journey I would be much obliged.”

His last words before I lost consciousness in the forest came back to me. _”Then he is all I need.”_ How deep did his feelings for my prince run and in what context did his loyalties lie? I would study on the matter, but for the moment my body demanded rest. Six months I had been on the road over land and sea and though I disliked being delayed from returning home so close to its end, it seemed foolish not to accept the generous hospitality of the Church and return whole and healthy. Quatre would not be pleased if he learned of my wounds. 

“We are prepared to leave whenever you feel strong enough,” Trowa sighed standing to leave. “Though that foul tempered, wretch of a horse of yours seems intent to send me to an early grave.” I laughed picturing him trying to tend to Wing’s needs. The fool creature would sooner starve as receive oats from any other hand but mine. 

“Set him free,” I told him knowing full well the stallion could fend for himself and would return to my side the moment I had need of him. 

“I tried,” he groused. “He made straight for the house. We would never have returned him to the yard if not for Duo.”

Hark. “Duo?” He was real?

“A ward of the church,” he explained and my heart throbbed excitedly. He was real! “The beast calmed and followed him right into the barn.” Wing followed him? “Not that I blame him,” Trowa chuckled. “He could charm the clouds from the sky with nothing but a smile. You have to admit his beauty is as rare as his gentle spirit,” he grinned and I felt as if my soul had been ripped naked by his emerald gaze. “Or did you manage to sleep through his tender ministrations?”

“I thought he was…” …an angel. 

“What?” he smiled expectantly, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. 

“Where is he?” I asked forcing the vertigo away while I sat up. 

“Trying to keep that demon horse of yours from impregnating every mare in the yard,” he laughed, but was right there by my side while I wavered and fell back onto the bed when I tried to stand. “Perhaps another day’s rest?” he suggested. 

“Help me to the window.” I had to see him for myself. 

It was difficult to stay on my feet with the world spinning round, but I managed to make it to the window with Trowa’s aid and felt my chest tighten when I saw him with Wing in the corral. They were…playing together. I had never seen the stallion behave in such a way as he pranced and ducked and trotted around, but his antics were nothing more than a distant oddity as my gaze was captured by the mesmerizing image of Duo laughing in the sunlight. 

“Beauty hath tamed the beast,” Trowa spoke softly at my side. 

“Take me to him,” I commanded narrowly avoiding a fall when Trowa caught me as I turned to walk away. 

“I think not,” he laughed dragging me back to my bed. Damn it! I needed to see him. I needed to know if it had been a dream and if not, I really needed to apologize. 

“I need to speak to him,” I grumbled while my body betrayed me and fell back into the furs. 

“I’ll send him in.” A reasonable alternative, why hadn’t I thought of it? “You stay in bed. It could take him some time to convince Wing their romp session should be cut short,” he chuckled and I nodded knowing full well I wouldn’t make it past the hall even if I tried. 

The exertion of my little walk coupled with the fatigue of my injury dragged my mind down into a quagmire of foggy thoughts and misty visions. I lay in a half sleep while images of Duo swam in my mind, his face smiling so sweetly in the soft glow of a sunbeam, his laugh like music in the air and his mouth so hot and hungry on my body. Why did he do it? Was his loyalty to the crown such that he would offer his services so openly to a complete stranger? Or was it merely his nature to be so generously accommodating? He had touched me in a way no other being had dared and I welcomed him. No, I begged for more. Even in light of my injured state I could not have denied the need that arose inside me, the need that once again played around the edges of my sanity begging for a chance to reach out and claim more. It had only one necessity… 

“My Lord?”

Duo.

“Are you well?” he asked noting the elevation of my breathing. I could feel the slight sheen of sweat that lie upon my brow and knew his concern was not unfounded. However, my state had little to do with any injury. 

“Duo,” I breathed swallowing whatever words might have followed when my throat tightened and a heat wave washed through me at the touch of his hand. 

“What is it?” he asked sympathetically laying a hand on my forehead. “Are you feverish?” He was worried, bless his heart. Worried about me. 

I meant to speak to him, truly I did, to call him close and tell him I was sorry for the way I treated him, but the words would not fall from my lips and when he leaned down with his concern for my sanity clear in his eyes I lost what little control remained in me in my weakened state and he gasped heartily when I grabbed him and kissed him. 

“My Lord, please,” he hissed breathily as his lungs heaved above my chest, but I couldn’t let him go. 

“Don’t leave.” I was begging for the first time in my life, but I didn’t care as long as he remained. 

“You haven’t the strength for this,” he whispered, but I had already surrendered to the unyielding need inside and he whimpered deliciously when my hand slid down his pants. 

“Touch me,” I pleaded viciously lashing out at the part of my mind that would have injected reason into the encounter so that it slinked back into the shadows. 

“Lord…please,” he panted and the heady sound of his voice begged for everything his words were not while I pleaded once again…

“Touch me, Duo,” and urged him by aiding his hand in its reluctant quest. 

“You’re not…well,” he groaned and relinquished his mouth to mine once again. 

He was half on the bed with his legs spread and one knee by my side which gave me full access to the places that forced those sumptuous little sounds from his throat. It was difficult to remain on the waking side of the darkness that was trying to claim me, but I would have sold my soul before I allowed myself to pass out. All too soon he was shaking in my arms and every drop of passion that poured from me was absorbed, regenerated and injected back into my body until my vision swirled with blazing stars and my mind was filled with thunder. I know he granted me the gift of his apogee because I recall seeing the birth of the heavens in his beautiful eyes just before my world exploded with light and everything went black. 

“Where is Duo?”

I hadn’t seen him since I passed out the day before. 

“He’s gone to Corcisa for supplies,” Sister Helen smiled rinsing out the rag she had been using to bath me. 

Was he avoiding me? It seemed reasonable that he would considering the liberties I had taken at his expense, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of betrayal and loss that settled into my bones. 

“You’re looking much better today,” she smiled setting a tray of bread and soup on the bed beside me. 

I did feel better after a long night’s sleep, but my returning strength brought with it nothing more than depression over the fact that once I was well I would be leaving this place and Duo behind. For the first time since I had set foot in this land, I was reluctant to return home. 

Duo did not return and by the end of the week Trowa was reminding me on an hourly basis that we needed to be on our way. I could put off the departure no longer. Father Maxwell, a kindly old gentleman that had allowed his sense of charity to keep him from accepting financial aid from the monarchy, was reluctant to accept the bag of gold Trowa had taken from Cross’s men, but in the end could not refuse a regent’s right to reimbursement. He had cared for me, tended my companion, my horse and my wounds, there was nothing more I could offer him but the means to continue his work. 

My heart longed to see Duo one more time before we left, but he did not appear and I was left with nothing but the image of the little monastery as I gazed back from the crest of the first hill. This place would forever hold a special magic for me because it was where I had met the only being in creation that had ever touched my soul. 

We were met half a day’s ride from Raberba Castle by Abdul and three of his men who informed us word had reached Prince Quatre of the cause of our delay. Hence the escort, who I had to threaten with bodily harm before they backed off and allowed me to ride my own mount home. 

Trowa was accepted on good faith at my word and remained a constant by my side. Whatever his origins, I had come to trust the mercenary in the short time we had known each other. The closer we came to Yon the more intensive his manner became until he rode silently beside me with our excitable escort some distance ahead while his eyes scanned the parapets for any sign of our Liege. When first I understood the look in his eyes it disturbed me. However, my thoughts were some miles behind us resting in a soft bed of furs at Duo’s side. I understood his feelings only too well. Time would tell if his heart had led him to ruin, but I could see nothing adverse in either of their futures when Quatre sang out from the castle wall where his visage was as bright as the noon day sun while he smiled and waved down to us. 

“Hiiro! Welcome home!”

I had barely the time to grin and return the gesture before he disappeared and burst a moment later from the stair beside the gate. Wing stamped his feet and stalled in the face of such a joyous greeting tossing his head while he whinnied and lurched at the young blonde who latched onto his head and hugged him tight. 

“Six months abroad and the horse receives a more affectionate greeting than his master,” I teased dismounting with the rest of my company.

“The horse is a good deal more aggressive than you,” Quatre grinned launching himself at me and I was blessed with the warmth of his embrace once again. “You’re safe,” he smiled against my ear. 

“Yes,” I agreed taking a moment to cherish him for the wonder that he is. 

“You’re home,” he breathed squeezing me tight, but the confirmation that had been on my lips was snuffed out by the sudden image of a small monastery on the outer boarder of the plains. I found this event more disturbing than I was prepared to deal with at that moment and let the happiness of my return overwhelm the depression that had taken hold of my heart. 

“And you,” he grinned at Trowa who stood quietly by until he suddenly found his arms full of a grateful prince. “We owe you so much,” Quatre told him hugging him tight and I felt a swelling in my stomach that tried to rise up my throat when Trowa’s eyes fell slowly shut as his arms gently came to cradle my prince in a way that spoke of the greatest reverence and left no doubt in my mind as to why the mercenary had spent a good part of his life plotting a way to Quatre’s side. 

“Come,” Quatre smiled tugging him forward. “There’s going to be a feast! Rashid!” I noted Trowa’s slightly startled expression when the giant strolled out of a nearby doorway and smiled while he made his way toward us. 

“Welcome home, Captain!” he greeted clapping his forearm to mine. 

“Thank you.”

“This is Trowa,” Quatre smiled still clinging to the mercenary’s arm. 

“I understand we owe you our captain’s life,” Rashid grinned looking him up and down. 

“Anything you desire, it’s yours,” Quatre offered and I almost laughed when Trowa smirked at me. 

“Hiiro!”

Damn. I had hoped she would not be visiting the castle, but my luck seemed to have crawled under the bed at the Maxwell church and forsaken me. It wasn’t that I disliked the Countess Darlian, but her insistent affection had never set well in my crawl. I found it even more disconcerting while thoughts of Duo’s disapproval washed along my mind when she latched onto my arm and kissed my cheek. 

“Welcome home,” she smiled excitedly. “We’ve all missed you so much. How was your journey?”

“Are the maidens in Gobanme as sweet as their reputation?” Rashid grinned. 

“None so beautiful they could turn Hiiro’s heart,” Relena replied for me and I once again thought of Duo. No maiden indeed. 

“There will be time enough to hear about Hiiro’s travels after they have rested and washed,” Quatre interjected and I smiled. A bath sounded like a most welcome luxury. 

I was curious how Trowa would handle the fact that bathing in Yon is a communal activity. There are only two baths in the castle, one for the women and one for the men located in the basement level where the natural hot spring the building was centered upon provided a most decadent means of cleansing. I chuckled low in my throat when he gaped at me as Quatre slid out of his shirt and prepared to enter in the water. 

“Lord Chang was agreeable then?” my prince was asking while I laughed internally at the fact that Trowa had discretely turned his back. 

“He was very receptive to the idea of a treaty,” I replied dropping my garments on the floor. 

“I wish all people were as intelligent as he,” Quatre sighed sinking down into the steaming spring. “But tell me of your adventure. How did it come to pass that you had the good fortune of meeting Trowa?”

“A band of mercenaries hired to assassinate the king’s messenger managed to surround me,” I informed him groaning softly while the healing waters engulfed sore muscles and tired bones. 

“And you saved him?” Quatre smiled at our reluctant companion who still had his under shorts on when he joined us. 

“It seemed the decent thing to do,” Trowa shrugged.

“Do you always bathe in your clothes?” my prince inquired jovially and I got to see a mercenary blush. “There is no need for modesty here,” Quatre told him standing to display what had become over the years, a most resplendent form. “You see?” But Trowa did not see for he had averted his eyes and I smiled noting his desire to treat him with respect. 

“There is a monastery in the outer plains we should see to,” I interjected hiding the grin when Trowa flashed me a grateful glance. 

“Is that where you spent your time healing?” Quatre asked sitting back down. 

“Yes.” 

“What’s wrong?” he inquired and I was taken by the depth of his empathetic awareness. Never had I known a soul that was so acutely in tune with the feelings of those around him. 

“The priest is a humble man,” I evaded pushing the images of Duo to the back of my mind. “I fear he will reject any assistance.”

“Then we will do what we can,” Quatre smiled solving that problem in less than ten words. “Hiiro?” Damn. I couldn’t stop thinking of Duo and I knew he could feel it. 

“Lord Chang requests an audience.” Time to change the subject. 

“He’s coming here?” Quatre gaped. 

“He will arrive before the next full moon,” I informed him. 

“That’s less than three weeks away!” Quatre exclaimed. “Why didn’t you say so?! We have so much to do!”

“He is a modest man,” I argued. “I doubt he would be impressed with an overly flamboyant greeting.”

“Greeting?” Quatre chortled splashing me with water. “Hang the greeting we have a treaty to prepare.”

“You seem in a hurry to have the agreement in place,” Trowa commented and Quatre smirked at him for some reason I did not comprehend. 

“The sooner we have an accord the sooner our people can prosper,” he replied flicking a single finger of water in the mercenary’s direction. 

Trowa never blinked when a droplet landed on the tip of his nose and his emerald eyes locked steadfast on Quatre’s while his tongue emerged and licked it away. I grinned inwardly at the sudden comprehension of why none of the girls that had tried to court my liege had been successful when a visible shudder ran through his body and his eyes lit on fire. Apparently, Trowa stood a better chance with his heart than I was aware of. 

The following days became one trail after another as Quatre set to work both preparing for Lord Chang’s arrival and working out the details of the treaty. Excursions were made to the surrounding nobility including the Darlian estate where I was forced to endure Relena’s simpering attention for two incredibly long days before moving on to her brother’s abode at the Peacecraft Manor. They had never been close having some tension between them due to the fact that they were half siblings, each the product of a wandering father who could not choose a single lover. However, though his father was directly related to the crown, it gave Milliardo, or Zechs as he had chosen to be named, no right to rule, which he quite often conveniently forgot.

When all was said and done, both the Darlian and Peacecraft names were absent from the treaty, though this was nothing more than what was expected. Formality demanded they be addressed before further steps could be taken and Prince Quatre seemed pleased with the results on the day of my departure. 

“I still don’t understand why Rashid can’t go to meet him,” he objected one more time. 

“I am already familiar with Lord Chang,” I reasoned because I didn’t dare tell him the true reason for my determination in making the journey again. 

“But you’ve only just returned,” Quatre huffed and I was grateful for Trowa’s continued presence by his side. Without it I would have been hard pressed to win in an argument against my liege. 

“It’s only a three day ride,” the mercenary soothed and I caught the twinkle in his eye when he smiled at me. “Will you visit the monastery on your route?”

Demon. “If time permits.”

“Is that why you’re so insistent to go yourself?” Quatre grinned. 

“There is a debt to repay,” I reasoned while I tightened the saddle strap on Wing. 

“I should think the bag of go...ow!”

“So sorry,” I glared backing Wing off from where he had just stepped on Trowa’s toe. 

Quatre’s eyes narrowed dangerously while they flicked from one of us to the other for a moment before his smile lit up the courtyard. 

“Be swift, my friend,” he told me hugging my neck tight. “The light shines only half as brightly when you are away.”

“Only because it obeys your heart,” I replied and was blessed with the delightful glow of a rosy mantel on his fair cheeks. “Look after him well,” I charged Trowa, who made his acquiescence to the task painfully obvious by slipping a bold arm around his waist. Quatre neither recoiled nor complained, but in fact, leaned into the tall mercenary by his side and I smiled while I mounted and bid them farewell. 

I crested the hill above the Maxwell Church a day and a half later and though I was uncertain if it had been my need to see Duo again or Wing’s anxious steps that brought us there so quickly, my heart raced to see the little house with its barn and corral nestled in the little cove of trees. 

Duo.

“Good day to you, my lord,” Sister Helen greeted me in the yard handing a carrot to my greedy steed who promptly searched her pockets for more. 

“Good day,” I smiled sliding to the ground. 

“What brings you back to us so soon?” she asked giggling while she was pushed about by my overeager horse. 

“I am to meet Lord Chang at the shore,” I informed her. “Is Duo…” but I never finished the question as Wing suddenly raised his head while his ears pricked toward the barn before a high pitched whinny ripped from his throat and he took off toward the building. My blood was already racing when Duo stepped into the light with his smile as warm and bright as the sun itself while he greeted my arrogant steed with open affection. By all the gods in heaven he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. 

“Master Yui,” Father Maxwell called from the door. “How good of you to visit us again. Come inside and rest.”

“But…” 

“Duo will see to Wing,” he insisted while Sister Helen took my arm and ushered me inside. 

It felt indecent somehow, accepting their hospitality. I wondered what the good priest and nun would think if they understood the true nature of my need. Would they be so amiable if they were aware of how I had violated him? I longed to speak with him, but was forced to endure the formalities of good form. It seemed like forever before their curiosity was satisfied and I found an opportunity to request an audience with Duo. 

“He’ll be in the barn tending Wing,” Sister Helen smiled. 

“I dare say if that horse were human we’d have a wedding on our hands,” Father Maxwell laughed, but his words startled me so that I could do nothing more than sit and gape at him. 

“Will you stay for lunch?” Sister asked, but her voice sounded distant in my ears. I managed a distracted nod while I left them and made my way outside. 

And there he was in all his resplendent glory. He was playing with Wing like he had on my first visit, dancing and prancing around the corral were his laughter was like a song on the wind and I felt my temperature rise just to look at him. Wing snorted, then stopped to regard me calling Duo’s attention to my presence as well and I felt my breath hitch in my throat when his gaze lighted on me. 

“Good day, my lord,” he smiled patting Wing on the cheek since he had draped his huge head over his shoulder to nuzzle him. “You’re looking well.”

“I am…thank you.” Damn it! What was it I wanted to say?! I had forgotten, forgotten it all when I came face to face with him and my mind regressed back to only one thought. I need him. 

“Have you come to stay a while?” he asked. 

“No,” I replied climbing through the fence to approach him. “I have to leave by nightfall to meet Lord Chang,” I explained stopping suddenly when my pigheaded steed stepped in between us. 

“Move, you great oaf!” I growled pushing his huge body forward, but he refused to budge. 

“I believe he’s trying to tell us his playtime is not over,” Duo laughed peeking around him. 

“I need to speak with you,” I confessed and felt his manner shift slightly while his eyes fell to the ground. Dear Lord what had I done to him? 

“This way,” he instructed and though Wing protested vigorously we managed to step inside the barn and shut him out, then suddenly I was alone with him in the gentle glow of the midday sun with the world closed safely away and my throat suddenly went as dry as the western salt flats. 

“Before you begin,” he said dusting one toe on the ground where his eyes had chosen to gaze. “I know I owe you an apology.”

Um… “What?”

“I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like I did.”

What in the world was he saying?

“I have no excuse for my behavior other than from the moment I first saw you I felt a need to be closer to you.”

“But it was I who violated you,” I argued and he gaped at me for a moment before he laughed. 

“Perhaps it was more of a mutual attraction then,” he chuckled. “Still, molesting an injured man was unforgivable of me.”

“I believe I could forgive you just about anything,” I laughed, albeit, nervously because my entire outlook on the situation had just radically changed. 

“Well, then,” he smiled while he pulled the drawstring at the collar of his shirt and my heart stopped. “Since we have until nightfall…”

“Duo?”

“My lord,” he whispered unlacing his breaches and suddenly my heart was beating so fast I could hardly breathe. 

“Hiiro,” I gasped stepping up to take him in my arms. “My name...is Hiiro.”

He attempted to speak it for me, but I was already kissing him and falling headlong into the most sinfully exquisite feeling I had ever known. He was everything I could have hoped for, the embodiment of my deepest desires come to life. I stripped him of his trousers and laid my own attire aside retaining my cloak for modesty’s sake. I wanted to feel him next to me, to know the warmth of his skin, the fever of his touch as I laid him in a bed of hay and rocked him gently. Not the day nor the time nor the intrusive nosing of my disgruntled steed could draw my attention from him. The experience was one I had never consciously thought about before, but Duo knew exactly what he wanted and how to achieve it. He was so willingly agreeable I thought my chest might explode as it swelled with joy with each epitome we achieved. That afternoon went by so slowly I swore I would be a year older before it was through, but when the time came that we were finally sated and lay in a content huddle among the reeds, it was as if it had taken less than the blink of an eye. I knew I would have to leave him soon, but this time I would leave him with an invitation. My mind played with images of him wandering about the castle and our chambers decorated to match his eyes while we dozed in the warmth of the late afternoon. However, when I woke in the dimming evening light he was gone. 

“He went to check the traps,” Sister Helen informed me and I suddenly felt silly standing there in my rumpled state. 

“You’re welcome to wait for him if you like,” Father Maxwell offered. “I’m certain he would want to say goodbye,” he smiled over the top of his reading glasses and I felt my skin prickle with guilt. He knew, I had no doubt of it, but I couldn’t bring myself to care past the point of possibly causing Duo any grief. 

“I’ll wait.”

“Wonderful!” Sister beamed happily. “I’ll go make up the guest room.”

“The guest room?” I inquired feeling my stomach sink into my toes. 

“The traps are scattered from here to the Rine River,” Father explained. “He won’t return before tomorrow afternoon.”

Damn it! “I cannot wait that long,” I sighed.

“Perhaps you could stop by on your way back,” Sister Helen suggested. 

“No.” Damn it all to hell! Why did he run? “My duties are clear. I cannot endanger Lord Chang and his men by leaving the main road.”

“Will you leave him a message then?” 

“Yes,” I replied before I really thought about who would be delivering that message and my tongue froze in my mouth while they waited expectantly. It felt like a horrible betrayal toward Duo to tell them what I wanted to say. “Tell him…” that I love him. 

“Perhaps this is a message best delivered in person,” the old priest smiled and I understood by the soft light in his eyes that he already understood. “There will come another time,” he assured me, but I took little comfort in the words when I felt my heart severed in two as I rode away. 

Quatre, my prince, my country and my kingdom. I had chosen my path long ago and it remained dear to my heart, but…Duo. I ached to have him by my side. Why did he run? Didn’t he feel the same for me? Or had our time together been nothing more than a game to him? I recalled the tenderness in his touch, the sweet ecstasy of his kiss and couldn’t bring myself to believe he harbored no feelings for me in return, but why did he run? It took every ounce of willful determination I possess to keep my nose pointed toward the sea. I had a duty to fulfill and I would see it through, but every step I took farther away from my beautiful angel brought a grieving pain to my soul. 

“Master Yui!”

“Lord Chang.”

“You look weathered to the bone,” the Dragon Master proclaimed clapping his forearm to mine. “I should think not even the promise of my handsome face would have dragged you away from your home again so soon.” 

It was funny so I laughed, but it was a hollow sound even to my ears. “You had fair winds?” 

“Horrible,” he laughed joining me on the shore. “But Gobanmian sailors have strong backs and a good grip for the oar,” he smiled proudly. “So we made good time. Have you an escort?”

“Prince Quatre would have sent the royal army if I hadn’t intervened,” I laughed recalling the argument well. 

“Good man,” he returned merrily. “We’ll have enough to transport as is.”

“Shall we retire so you may rest?” I asked politely knowing how grimy it feels to be aboard ship for too long. 

“Master O!” he called to the tall, bald man I had come to know as his first mate. “See to the cargo! I have some schmoozing to do!”

And I must say, Lord Chang was a most elegant schmoozer. He had every wench at the inn falling all over themselves for the chance to fill his cup. He is a regal sovereign and I believe his playful jibe about his handsome face was only half in jest. No one with that sort of arrogance and zeal is unaware of the fact that they are drop dead gorgeous. It made me wonder since my encounters with Duo why I had not fallen for this man instead. Or Quatre for that matter, but be beauty where it may, there was none to compare with Duo. I had a vision of him sitting on the porch with his hair thinning and gray while he grumbled about the weather aching in his bones and felt my heart reach out and embrace him. Be beauty were it may…there was none to compare with Duo.

“You have the look of a man who has left his heart elsewhere.”

“Pardon?” When did I zone out? 

“I was unaware that you had a wife,” Lord Chang laughed drawing one of the barmaids to his side. 

“I haven’t,” I replied distantly. Where had the wine gone?

“From the look in your eyes perhaps you should,” he chortled sucking on his goblet, which spilled down his front soaking the white satin of his garb blood red. 

“I don’t think that is possible,” I sighed fending off the vertigo that had taken hold of my head. 

“Does she belong to another?”

“No…he…” but my words died in my throat. Did he? Was that why he ran away? Because he had some other lover somewhere that already kept his heart? The thought brought with it a pain that lanced my chest and my cup suddenly bounced on the floor. 

“Speculate not on the heretofore when the present has so much to offer,” he grinned jostling his handful of maiden while she laughed. 

“Excuse me.” I was clearly not fit for company any longer and my spirit sagged into my shoes as I dragged them off to bed. 

It felt as though I had only just closed my eyes when a pounding in my head awakened me. 

“Arise, Master Hiiro!” 

Did he have an iron stomach? 

“The dawn is upon us! Awake! I wish to be done with this journey and stand at my new brother’s side!”

“Must you be so cheerful in the morning?” I groused while I stumbled from my room. 

“Perhaps it is the company I keep,” he grinned laying a gentle hand to one of the maiden’s cheeks that left her blushing royally and fleeing the room altogether. 

My jaw dropped when I beheld the caravan that had been prepared during the night. Twenty men, two wagons and a host of dancing girls dressed in every color of the rainbow awaited our lead. 

“My lord,” I inquired as we got under way. “Is it your intention to make a gift of these girls to my prince?”

“These?” he gaffed glancing back at the entourage. “This is my personal staff,” he informed me. “But if you think he would be pleased…”

“No!” I barked. “No, definitely not.”

“Then all is well,” he grinned and we led the strangely prismatic company out of Corsica and into the open land. I spent most of the day scouting ahead, but if any citizens of Gobanme objected to the Dragon Master’s visit they kept their displeasure to themselves, which was a wise decision considering both Lord Chang and his men were exquisitely trained in the killing arts. 

The quiet left me plenty of time to think, which only led to my sulking about Duo. I needed to know if he had another lover and if not, why he ran away. My heart refused to believe his reluctance was due to any lack of feeling toward me, but there had to be something. If it was another lover they were going to be in for the fight of their life because I had no intension of giving Duo over to them. 

It was late in the evening when I realized my path had wavered and I was headed straight for the little monastery and turned back. Wing was reluctant to obey and made the call to duty that much harder to follow, but I soon found myself sitting by a fire with my charge and three of his brightly clad concubines. Never had I seen a man with such a libido.

“Does he live nearby?” he asked, but I didn’t catch exactly what he had said until his lips curled evilly along his gums. 

“Beyond the hills to the south,” I replied preparing for whatever jibe he might inflict on me.

“Have you known him long?” was not what I expected. 

“Less than a month,” I informed him. “You don’t disapprove?” 

“I would be a fool of a bigot if I were to criticize such a base instinct,” he smiled chewing on the jaw of the girl on his right while he slipped the hand he had around her neck down her shirt and my eyes went wide when I realized she was a he. “I have several males in my court,” he laughed delightfully snuggling the young man closer to his side. “Does this upset you?”

“Hardly,” I chuckled relaxing parts of myself I hadn’t known were tensed. 

“And your fair prince?” he asked arching a brow. 

“I believe he will understand,” I smiled thinking of Trowa and wondering if I had done right by my prince leaving him in such ambitious company. 

The man, indeed, had a ravenous appetite for the pleasures of the flesh and soon took his playmates to bed. I wondered where Duo was and what he might be thinking while I gazed up at the moonlit sky. I had only met him such a short time ago and already I missed him painfully. The distant sounds from Lord Chang’s tent brought me feverish dreams where Duo and I explored the depths of human passion and I woke before dawn in a heated sweat and in need of a change of clothes. I needed to see him again. 

The remainder of the trip was the hardest I ever had to make as my right foot begged to take me home and my left insisted my home lay some miles behind me at Duo’s side. I rode beside our regal visitor as we neared the gates of Raberba castle with a heavy confusion in my heart as to where my home actually lie. 

“Hiiro!” came the joyous cry of my prince while he waved vigorously from the parapet and his bright face eased my worries until he disappeared and emerged in his customary place by the gates. Wing whinnied and trotted out to meet him nuzzling both his chest and pockets in search of a treat until his head suddenly lifted, his ears pricked and my heart jumped so hard I thought it might free itself from my chest. 

Wing let go a cry and tossed his head happily, but I was already on the ground and by Duo’s side before he could intervene. I didn’t understand how he and his company had come to be there, but there they stood with Father Maxwell and Sister Helen grinning by his side and though his smile was sullen and small it brought sheer joy to my heart to behold. 

“Father thought it best to thank his Highness in person for his generosity,” he sulked, but I couldn’t stop grinning at him. 

“Did he now?” I smiled offering the good priest my most grateful expression. 

“I don’t know why I had to come,” he groused. 

“Mind your manners,” Sister Helen scolded. 

“But the traps need to be tended,” he argued and I laughed out loud at his petulant tone. 

“I take it you live in the hills to the south of Corsica?” Lord Chang interjected while he, Quatre and Trowa joined us. 

“Yes, my lord,” Sister Helen bowed her head respectfully. “We are honored that you know of it.”

“What I know pales in comparison to the truth,” he smiled looking Duo up and down and I felt compelled to step between them. 

“What a lovely gathering,” Quatre exclaimed inspecting the many colored dancers while they helped tend to the wagons and livestock. “Will they dance for us?”

“If it is your wish,” Lord Chang smiled and I felt compelled to step between them as well, but Trowa beat me to it. 

“Wonderful!” Quatre enthused and I balked openly when he laid himself along Trowa’s back and allowed the tall mercenary to pick him up piggyback and dance him around. “We’ll have new entertainment for the feast!” my prince laughed and I felt the warmth of it right down to my toes. 

I couldn’t eat. My stomach had been infested by a swarm of fireflies that set my blood on fire while I gazed upon Duo during the celebration. Quatre insisted he and his surrogate family sit with us at the king’s table where Lord Chang took a place at my prince’s left hand with Trowa on his right where I suspected he would forever remain. The Gobanmian dancers were a spectacle to behold, but my eyes refused to gaze past the glowing presence of Duo’s face. I didn’t realize I was gaping like a hungry goat until he finally excused himself and wandered off toward the gardens for some fresh air. 

“Don’t be a fool, man. Go after him,” Lord Chang hissed in my ear and I was suddenly on my feet in pursuit of this beautiful angel that had so captured my soul. 

I found him quietly studying a yellow rose blossom some distance into the garden and could not for the life of me think of one thing to say. 

“I fear I owe you another apology,” he smiled softly into the flower beneath his nose. 

“Why did you leave?” I had found my tongue at last. 

“It was easier that way,” he shrugged. 

“For whom?” I inquired a bit more desperately than I had intended. 

“There is no need to patronize me,” he scowled and I felt the swarm in my stomach lurch and rise up into my throat. 

“Patronize?!” I gasped stepping closer to him. “Is that how you perceive my feelings?!”

I had taken him by surprise, though I could see in his eyes it was what he wanted to hear. 

“What have I to offer a regent of the realm?” he asked softly and the answer spilled from my lips as easily as rain from the sky. 

“Everything.” But he did not believe. “Duo,” I entreated his full attention. “I would leave all this behind tonight if you were to ask.” He stood silently regarding me as if trying to discern the truth in my words and I was shocked to discover they were inexorably true. My heart had decided for me. Whatever the consequences, I belonged with Duo. 

“I could not ask such a thing of you,” he said turning his head sadly back to his rose. 

“Then stay with me.”

“And desert my family?” he snorted. 

And I understood. That’s why he ran. 

“They will be well cared for, I assure you,” I smiled moving forward to take him in my arms and I swear I felt the heavens open up and smile down on us when he laid his head on my shoulder and sighed. 

“Who will tend the traps?”

“We’ll hire a hand,” I chuckled. 

“Sassy needs her medicine twice a day.”

“Sassy?” I inquired. 

“The black sow.”

“Then we’ll bring her here so you can care for her,” I grinned kissing his hair. 

He had been suffering the same confusion I had. Longing for the place his heart had pinned itself, yet unwilling to leave what he already knew to be a happy home. 

“Hiiro?”

“Yes?” I replied rocking him gently under the starlit sky. 

“Will we be accepted? Will your station be threatened?”

I thought about it and had to stifle a laugh at the image of Quatre and Trowa’s growing affection before I replied, “Considering recent events, I think it will be some time before anyone even takes notice of us.”

“But when they do?” he asked turning the most beautiful, serious eyes upon me that I had ever seen. 

“Then anyone who objects can jump off the world and make way for those with open minds and loving hearts,” I smiled while I kissed him and felt the pieces all click into place. 

We walked arm in arm back to the celebration where Lord Chang had taken full advantage of his endless cup of wine and joined his harem on the floor. Quatre was in Trowa’s lap and I had no doubt a treaty would be sighed and enacted before the end of the week. Our family had grown, but it was no less strengthened in its integrity. I pulled Duo close noting the soft smile on Father Maxwell’s lips while I made an oath to myself that the man would never want again. 

There are certain inalienable truths in this world. Integrity is something that must be discovered by one’s self, never patronize a pigheaded horse, wine will often make a man behave like a monkey, and you cannot lose if you truly follow your heart. 

owari :)

**Author's Note:**

> Write it, draw it, create it, sing it, SHARE IT. ~ Sunhawk 2019


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